A man has been arrested after allegedly confessing to exposing hundreds of former lovers to HIV.

David Lee Mangum is thought to have had unprotected sex with around 300 people without telling them he had tested positive to the deadly virus.

Police detained the 36-year-old, from Dexter, Missouri, after his former gay lover, who he met through a Craigslist advert, contracted the disease in July.

Accused: David Mangum, pictured, told authorities he had sexual contact with as many 300 people since being diagnosed with HIV

Shortly after their brief relationship ended, the alleged victim received a phone call from one of Mangum's former roommates alerting him to the fact Mangum had tested positive for HIV in 2003, a Dexter Daily Statesman said.

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Mangum is said to have told police that he frequently knew little more than the first names of his partners which is complicating
efforts to notify potential victims.

Under Missouri law, knowingly exposing
another person to HIV is a felony.

Charged: David Mangum, from Dexter, Missouri, pictured, pleaded not guilty to infecting another man with the virus

If the victim goes on to become
infected with the virus - which leads to progressive failure of the immune system allowing life-threatening infections and cancers to thrive - the accused faces a possible sentence of life
in prison.

'Mangum admitted he never disclosed he had HIV to any of his sexual partners in Stoddard County,' according to a criminal affidavit reported by the Daily News.

Mangum is alleged to have told officers investigating the allegations that he did not tell sexual partners about his infection because he feared being rejected.

Judge Stephen Mitchell has set an all-cash bail of $250,000 in the case, and while awaiting trial, Mangum remains locked up at Stoddard County Jail.